Claims presidential jet used to fly from Larnaca to Paphos ‘ridiculous’

Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis on Tuesday decried accusations that President Nikos Christodoulides used the presidential jet to fly from Larnaca to Paphos as “ridiculous” and “a joke”.

“At first, to be honest, I thought it was a joke. Unfortunately, I have seen it reproduced on social media,” he said when asked about the accusations during an appearance on television channel Sigma.

“I think that at the very least it is ridiculous, a joke, for someone to think that something like that could happen. I consider it at least unworthy of comment, but I am glad to be asked about it because I now have the official platform to respond to such unaccountable manipulations,” he added.

 “I think that at least, regardless of what one’s opinion is or where each and every one of us stands towards a government, towards the president of the republic, and what the criticism is that one may exercise, I think it is at least wise to be a little careful, responsible, and to have some limits in our public statements.”

The accusations came after some social media users noticed that before and after presidential trips abroad, the jet embarks on internal flights.

On May 20, the jet flew from Paphos to Larnaca, before flying from Larnaca to London Stansted with Christodoulides on board later that day.

Three days later, when Christodoulides returned from his trip to the United Kingdom and Finland from Helsinki airport, the jet touched down in Larnaca, before flying to Paphos two hours after its arrival.

According to aircraft tracking website FlightRadar24, the jet is next set to take to the skies on Wednesday, flying from Paphos to Heraklion, on the Greek island of Crete, then from Heraklion to Rhodes, and then from Rhodes back to Paphos.

The Cyprus Mail attempted to contact the government to clarify the actual reason behind the internal flights but received no response.

Anyone who wishes to track the presidential plane’s flight details can do so by using its call sign: CAF001 (Cyprus Airforce One) from any airplane tracking application.